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Join the debates about mega-events and about housing finance and the right to adequate housing

Published in Monday April 16th, 2012 In News on the Rapporteurs

This month we inaugurate two new topics to be debated in our virtual platform: one on sports mega-events and another on housing finance and its impacts on the right to adequate housing.

Cambodia: demolition of houses in Borei Keila

Published in Monday April 16th, 2012 In In the media

February 9, 2012 by Sopheap Chak The problem of forced evictions is turning for the worse in Cambodia while citizen dissatisfaction over existing resettlement schemes is also rising. While land grabbing is a nationwide problem, it’s most evident in the urban areas. In fact, residents of Monivong Hospital, Sombok Chap, Dey Kraham, Group 78, Borei Keila, […]

Housing rights defender jailed for ‘disturbance’

Published in Wednesday April 11th, 2012 In In the media

April 10th, 2012 by Josh Chin, with contributions from Olivia Geng A disabled former lawyer who has clashed repeatedly with authorities while assisting people illegally evicted from their homes was sentenced on Tuesday to two years and eight months in prison for fraud and “creating a disturbance,” her attorney said. The sentence marks the latest sign […]

Homelessness Becomes A Crime In Hungary

Published in Tuesday April 10th, 2012 In In the media

Hungary’s new anti-vagrancy laws — the toughest in Europe — now mean that homeless people sleeping on the street can face police fines or even the possibility of jail time. Advocacy and human-rights groups are alarmed by the new efforts to crack down on and effectively criminalize homelessness, where the ranks of the needy have increased during the country’s dire financial crisis. Click here to listen to the story.

Korail slum eviction in Dhaka: notes from the field

Published in Monday April 9th, 2012 In Social movement news

April 9th, 2012 By Venita Subramanian and Maria A. May, BRAC’s Social Innovation Lab On April 4, one of the largest forceful slum evictions in Bangladesh’s history took place in Dhaka’s Korail bustee. Households and shops within twenty meters of the road were bulldozed, with approximately 2,000 structures affected.  Homes lay in complete ruin, while […]

Dying in defense of land in Mexico

Published in Monday April 9th, 2012 In In the media

April 6th, 2012 by Maria Sanchez Tucked between sand dunes and the Pacific Ocean, perched on a small hill, is Xayakalan, home to members of the indigenous community, Santa Maria Ostula. Here, the sound of waves hitting the shore mixes with the cries of children playing among the wooden huts. Against this beautiful backdrop, a […]

Will California act to create more affordable housing?

Published in Monday April 9th, 2012 In In the media

April 8th, 2012 by Joel John Roberts California’s state leaders are debating whether they should tax homebuyers in order to fund more affordable housing for those who struggle with renting a house, let a lone buying one. It used to be the “American Dream” was to purchase a detached single family home down the street […]

Campaign: are you a tenant in a foreclosed home?

Published in Monday April 9th, 2012 In Social movement news

The National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty has issued a campaign to monitor violations of the Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act. They need your help with their survey.

Group plans to intensify protests against evictions ahead of 2014 World Cup

Published in Monday April 9th, 2012 In In the media

The Homeless Workers Movement, together with other groups, organized on Wednesday (April 4th) a series of protests across the country in order to draw attention to the problems caused by the 2014 World Cup projects, specially regarding the evictions of “thousands of working families”. The goal is to denounce the removal of families and the creation of laws for the mega events on 2014 and 2016.

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Right to adequate housing in the Egyptian Constitution

Published in Wednesday April 4th, 2012 In Social movement news

The Egyptian Center for Housing Rights launched a campaign to enshrine explicitly the right to adequate housing in the Egyptian constitution. One of its basis is the fact that the right to adequate housing is a human right, recognized on a wide scale by international human rights instruments signed and ratified by Egypt.